Kate Wright has a secret that she has yet to reveal to her new husband Russell. She sees ghosts, everywhere. But because her parents committed her to an institution when she was twelve, a betrayal that left her estranged from her family, she doesn’t reveal her “gift.” After college Kate left California for New York to pursue her dream to write gothic romances. For three years she’s led a quiet life, writing and spending time with her best friend Eric. As a writer of books on the paranormal Eric is the only one who knows of and understands her “gift.”

Then one night, while at work in a video store, Kate’s life changes. In walks a young man, tall, dark, and handsome, with an air of sadness about him, looking for the film Jane Eyre. Russell Wright, with the requisite old family, estate, and a significant amount of money, is the man of Kate’s dreams. Three months later, despite warnings from Eric, Kate and Russell marry. She trusts her instincts and her instincts tell her she can trust the handsome and stoic Russell Wright.

But she doesn’t trust him enough to tell him about the ghosts. She doesn’t tell him about the dead girl with a blue face and a Raggedy-Ann doll staring at them from the foot of the bed as they consummate their marriage. She doesn’t mention how frightened she is by this little girl who is snarling and gnashing her teeth like a crazed animal, as she shreds the doll. Nor does Kate tell Russell about the ghost of the old man she sees in their apartment. The old man who warns her, “she doesn’t want you here.” Her instincts tell her to keep these secrets from her handsome, rational husband.

Kate is a sweet young thing, but is not quiet credible. I’m not sure I believe that the same woman who had the courage to move across country to live on her own in New York would choose a husband based on the “gothic romance” image of the ideal man: tall, dark, brooding, and handsome. If Kate mentioned one more time how handsome her husband was-I was prepared to do some snarling and shredding of my own!

Russell, too, has secrets. He avoids any discussion about his family. All he has revealed to Kate is that his parents died in a car crash when he was very young. She first learns that he has a ninety-eight-year-old aunt when he informs her that they are moving to Wrightsbridge, the family estate in Connecticut. This is a decision he made after a visit from his twin sister Rosalind, who, he assures Kate, she will meet at Wrightsbridge. But at Wrightsbridge Kate’s fantasies become nightmares.

The ghosts that populate the house are not the kind of dead people Kate is used to. These ghosts are mean, driving Kate out of the house to spend most of her days in the garden or roaming the grounds. She starts blacking out, losing time, and writing strange things in her notebook without remembering having done so. Kate finally meets old Auntie Cee, but each time Rosalind comes to visit, Kate is out. Each time Rosalind comes to visit, Russell’s personality changes. He becomes aloof, distracted, and eventually violent. Kate realizes that Russell is no longer the ideal husband; instead, he has become a threat to her life.

Where Darkness Lives has, as is required of this type of story, a happy ending. But maybe not quite what’s expected. I realized at the end of the book that I was slightly amused by the story. How often can someone perpetuate and/or witness the elimination of a bunch of pesky in-laws without experiencing any moral dilemmas? How convenient is it that all problems are solved, including an error in romantic judgment, by people who cannot be held responsible - because they’re dead? And how often does the heroine end up with a bunch of nice supportive ghosts in a really cool old house?

--Carla Pulasky